Underneath The Mistletoe
by ImmA-steGOsaurus
Summary: Due to a snow storm Natsu Dragneel's flight is landed in Vancouver, delaying his arrival home to Japan. His father wants him by Christmas, which is in five days, to finalize his wedding date with his fiancé. Natsu isn't happy about this, and has countless sleepless nights. But when Natsu accidentally runs a raven haired guy, their new friendship pulls the boy out of darkness.(Yaoi)


" **Attention all passengers. Sorry for the inconvenience, but due to weather inconveniences, the flight will shortly be landing at Vancouver Airport until the weather clears up. We request that all passengers kindly be seated and fasten your seat belts, as we will be landing soon. Thank you."**

As the _'ding'_ of the intercom signed it off, the movie on the small screen in front of the young man came back on, resuming to a fighting scene between a young man and ferocious dragon. They both growled at one another as they began to fight a fiery battle to the death.

"Sir, please shut off your screen and fasten your seat belt. The landing sequence will be starting soon." A young albino women interrupted the young passenger's movie.

The pink haired passenger smiled, raising his seat and shutting off his screen as he prepared for landing. He quickly fastened his belt as he apologized. "My apologize."

The young air hostess simply smiled, nodding as she walked down the aisle to make sure others were fastened and ready for landing.

The young pinkette sighed, looking out the window at the cloudy view. It was a very dull, grayish sky; very depressing. It resembled his current mood right now, thanks to all the tension and troubles his mind was handling now.

He was on a work trip in New York for the month when suddenly he got a phone call from his father, back in Japan, near the last week of his trip. He was urgently called back to Japan, for reasons the young male had feared all his life would one day come true. He tried to convince his father over the phone that it was impossible to come back at moment, and besides, he was hoping to do some sight seeing once his job was done that day. His father stubbornly refused to listen to what his son wanted, and cut the call right after he told him to be home before Christmas.

The pinkette sighed, knowing all to well why he had escaped to New York in the first place. Not just for work, but to escape his father and someone else. He wanted to get away from the pressure of being a wealthy, honourable man's son. All the tension, all the stress, all the depression his situation had caused him, knowing all to well that he could not run away from it, nor would his father listen to his wish. He was trapped in something he could not escape from, no matter how hard he tried.

The crestfallen young man closed his eyes and sighed, once again, as he dozed off just as the _'ding'_ of the announcements went off.

" **Attention all passenger's, we will now be arriving in Vancouver Airport."**

* * *

"Three days!?" The younger man shouted, catching the attention of many onlookers in the airport.

"I'm sorry sir, but weather reports say that due to a snow storm on the west coast, flights will not be airborne for at least three days. And likely chance is that it may extend another day." A dark purple hair women calmly responded.

"But I'm suppose to be back home for Christmas." The pinkette bit his lip, knowing his father would be very upset about this.

"I am very sorry sir, but we can not do anything until the weather clears up. Why don't you go visit the city and book into a hotel? Vancouver is a lovely city, especially around this time of year." The young lady smiled.

"Thank you. Sorry for the outburst." The young male rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"No, no. It's quite understandable. Hope you enjoy your stay and Happy Holidays!" The lady smiled.

"Thank you. Happy Holidays to you to." The pinkette waved, grabbing his bags and making his way towards a food court.

He walked over to a coffee shop as he desperately needed some hot coffee.

"Welcome to Tim Hortons, how may I help you?" A chocolate haired women spoke, tapping on the table waiting for his response.

"I would like a medium coffee, please." He looked up at the board, trying to make sense of the prices.

"Okay. Would you like a donut or timbits with that sir?" She tapped in his order on a small computer like tablet.

"Timbit?" The pink haired male looked confused at the lady. He had never heard of a _'Timbit.'_

"Oh, you must be a foreigner. My apologizes." The girl grabbed a small timbit box and showed the boy what she meant. "Timbits are these sweet delicious balls of donuts, and they come in all different flavours. Chocolate and Honey dipped timbits are customer favourites! As for donuts, Boston Creme is number one."

"Oh." The pinkette simply responded. He wasn't that hungry at the moment, since he had breakfast before landing at the airport, but he was curious in trying the timbits. "I guess I'll try these timbits."

"That's the spirit!" The brunette chirped. "What size will it be?"

"Small please." He dug into his pockets for his wallet, so he could pay for his food.

"Okay, so that's one medium sized coffee and one box of ten timbits. Cash, credit or debit?" The brunette said while typing in the last of the order.

"Credit, thank you." He reached for the machine she pointed out and swiped the card, signing on the screen before being handed his receipt.

He was directed to the end of the shop, where he waited for his food. He watched the employees pour his coffee into a Tim Hortons cup and place assorted variety of timbits into a similar box as the brunette had shown. A smile ran across his face as he was handed his order.

"By the way, what's your name?" The girl folded her arms across the counter, admiring the young man.

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." He smiled, thanking the brunette. Without another word he grabbed his stuff and walked away towards an empty table, in an almost deserted food court.

He folded the tab of the coffee cup and blew a few times before taking a quick sip with a sigh of relief. Natsu sat there, pondering in his thoughts, drinking his coffee and taking a bite out of his timbits – which he thought were delicious – for an hour, maybe more.

Suddenly his phone buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed his phone to see a text from his father. His eyes dropped with sadness before tapping on the screen to open the message.

 _'Where are you? The driver said your plane didn't land when it was suppose to.'_

He read the message in perfect Japanese. The stressed boy quickly typed out a reply, reading it over two to three times before hitting send.

 _'The flight was stopped short due to a snow storm off the west coast and will be delayed by three days. I am currently at the Vancouver airport, in Canada. I'll be booking into a hotel here soon, and will call you from there, father.'_

The phone vibrated again, almost instantly, as two new messages from his father popped up. And by the looks of it, his father wasn't very pleased, as the boy had expected.

 _'Three days? I told you to be home for Christmas, no later. You know how crucial this is for the family business. How careless can you be, Natsu?_

 _'I want you home by Christmas, and I don't care what you have to do to get here, but I want you home before midnight or you know the consequences.'_

Natsu signed, knowing very well what his father was talking about. He shut off the phone, slipping it back into his pocket and cleared his table, as he was finished. He threw out his coffee cup, but held on to his timbit box since it still had a few timbits left in it.

He walked towards the line at the customer service desk, to ask if there were any alternate flights to Japan which were able to help him approach home before Christmas. There were still five days till Christmas but it was still a 13 hour trip, and the time difference was huge, making it if he were in Japan right now, there would only be four days to Christmas. Meaning, he had only four days before Christmas.

He sighed as he approached the front desk, asking for any alternate flights or even any other information due to the weather mishap. As he'd anticipated, nothing. No flights were allowed airborne for the next two days, in case the storm spread towards the mainland. It was almost impossible to reach home before Christmas. Maybe he could make an excuse and even stay a week longer in the city here.

He laughed to himself, like his father would believe or listen to him.

Although, he had two options of flights as the dark purple haired lady began to inform him.

"If the weather clears up in three days, as it is said to, there is a flight to Japan leaving at 10pm on the 23rd of December. You will reach Osaka at approximately 4am on the 25th just in time for Christmas morning. Otherwise there is also a later flight leaving on the 24th at 5pm, but you will barely make it for Christmas, since you would reach at about 11pm."

Natsu thought about. He knew if it were up to him, he would try to stay here as long as possible, maybe even stay here forever. But, in reality, he didn't really have much of a choice.

"Sir, do you have anymore questions?"

Natsu was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of the patiently waiting young women.

"My apologize. Would I be able to book either flight later? I would like to... inform my family first." That was a white lie, but it would make no difference to the young women if he was going to phone his father or not about the situation.

"Of course. And if you have anymore questions informing the weather and flight situation, please feel free to call or visit the front desk."

Natsu thanked the lady and made his way towards the waiting area. He thought: _'What should I do? Should I take the earlier flight and please my father or wait till the later flight? I really don't want to be there for his plans, and honestly I'd be better off not attending those late night/early morning Christmas parties. Something bad always happens. I'd rather stay home with family and friends, like any other normal family would. What do I do?'_

As Natsu's mind pondered on the thought over and over, he realized that he was only going to give himself a headache and began rubbing his temples to ease his mind. He took a quick glance at his watch and decided to go walking around the city, find a nice hotel to stay in and then go sightseeing while he was here for the time being.

He grabbed his bags and headed for the main exit. As the automatic doors moved to side, opening up his path, he was welcomed with white dancing beauties, twirling to the ground to join its friends.

He watched in awe. It never snowed this much back home, in the city. He'd only seen it on television or in pictures. Although he'd seen tons of snow back in England, when he was still studying, but he never got a chance to build a snowman or even a snow angel, because he was either too busy or had gone home to Osaka for some reason. Besides he was forced to mature fast as a child, since he had a duty to become a successful business man like his father and bring honour to the family name. Childish games were not allowed in his schedule.

"Mummy look I caught a snowflake!" The pinkette turned to see a young child run over and try to catch a snowflake in her bare hands. "Aah no, it disappeared!"

A young light green haired women laughed. "No sweetie, it melted. When the cold snowflake touches your warm hands it melts. Here, try using there mittens."

The young girl was handed a pair of pink mittens. Once she put them on, she reached out to catch a snowflake and cheered when it didn't melt away quickly as before. "Wow! Thanks mummy."

The mother smiled, pulling her daughter along. "Come on now, daddy is probably waiting for us in his car."

"Okay!"

He smiled watching how much joy a young child got from being able to catch the snow. It was such an adorable sight.

"Would you like a lift sir?" The pinkette turned to see a young brunette speak from inside his taxi.

"Yes please." He climbed into the roomy taxi placing his bags on the seat next to him.

"Where you off to?" The driver looked in his mirror, viewing his passenger from it.

"I'm staying here for a few days and I need a place to stay until flights are airborne again. Would you happen to know a good hotel I could stay in until then?" Natsu explained, feeling a bit uncomfortable the driver was looking at him like that through his mirror.

"Indeed, I knew a few places, which we can stop by and you can tell me your choice of hotel ratings." The brunette smiled.

"Thank you." The pinkette smiled back, before fastening his seat belt.

"By the way, the name's Max; and you are?"

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." The boy responded just as the taxi began to move down the road away from the airport. A wave a nausea began to hit him. He clenched his stomach and covered his mouth, almost forgetting about his motion sickness.

"Nice name, where you from? Don't seem like you're from around here." Max turned onto a highway and drove down the road within the speed limit. He looked at the boy from his mirror, who seemed to be struggling to breathe. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah...I'm...fine. Motion sickness, that's all." The pinkette scrunched up tighter in his seat, trying not to vomit in a stranger's taxi.

"Here, eat this." Max threw the boy a piece of candy, which he caught rather mercifully. "Not the best tasting candy, in my opinion, but it'll sooth that jumpy stomach of yours in no time."

Natsu read the label; it read _Chimes Ginger Chews._ Ginger candy? _Strange_ , he thought. But as long as it calmed the nausea, he was willing to try it. Before his stomach could act up on him again, he tore open the wrapper and popped the candy into his mouth.

"Better?" The driver asked after a few minutes.

"Yes, thank you!" He sighed in relief. He was going to have to buy a bag of these candies. They brought so much relief to his stomach.

"That's a relief. Now, back to my question: Where you from?"

"Oh yes. I'm from Osaka, Japan. Actually I was born in Kyoto, lived there for a few years before moving to Osaka with my father. I then spent my high school and university years studying in Birmingham, U.K." The pinkette explained.

"Oh, living in big cities like those, you must be some rich guys kid, huh?" The brunette laughed when Natsu's expression gave it away. "I guessed right, huh? Man, the big city, rich families, all the money, the fame...man would I love to throw away this taxi just to live in the big city as a well-known businessman's brat."

Natsu looked down, biting him lip, resisting from saying: _'No, it's not as fun as you people imagine it to be. It's rather the opposite. It's like living in a box, as puppet, doing as your family – the world – wants you to. Not being able to make decisions the way you want. Your wishes are practically unheard of.'_

But he kept his mouth shut. He wasn't one to express his troubles. This man wouldn't understand them anyways, so there was no point.

"Eh, where have you gotten lost back there, bud?" Natsu snapped back to reality, looking up to see the man looking at him from the front mirror with a bit of a worried expression.

"Oh I'm sorry, was a bit lost in thought. You were saying?" The pinkette forced a smile.

Max sighed, clearly not believing that fake little curve that played on the pink haired man's face. He should confront the man, but he didn't know him personal and besides he just met him today, it would be quite strange for a stranger to suddenly ask why his passenger was looking glum. Instead he attempted to brighten up the conversation, throw a joke in there if he could.

"I was saying; is this your first time seeing so much snow?" They turned onto a bridge, giving Natsu a view of the city. He stared out in awe. It was such a beautiful city, buried in white.

"No, I've seen my share of snow back in England, although this much snow; I don't think so."

"Well, it's pretty chilly out there. And man, you better have a pair of warm clothes." Max laughed. "Eh, do you know how to keep the snow from giving you cold feet?"

"Not actually. How?" The pinkette averted his eyes from the window to look at the strange taxi driver.

"Don't go around BRRRRRfoot, of course!" He laughed as they got off the bridge, causing the pink haired man to laugh a little. The man sure was strange, but he was really nice and he sure knew how to brighten up the mood.

The two talked, listened to the drivers horrible jokes and rants, and laughed the rest of the way to the hotel.

When they finally approached the Sandman hotel, Natsu paid the man with his credit card and thanked the man before making his way inside to book in for a few days. As he approached the front desk he was welcomed by a familiar albino women, except the woman's hair was much, _**much**_ shorter than the air hostess's back on the plane. She looked younger as well. Maybe they were sisters?

"Good morning sir, how may I help you?" The girl spoke in a cheery tone.

"Good morning. My flight was delayed and I would like to book a room for three days."

"Oh yes, indeed. Do you have a preference of which suite you would like to stay in or would you like me to suggest the best one for you?" She began to tap onto a keyboard, checking the availability of each room.

"I don't really have a preference." The pinkette responded with a shrug. "Any suite you pick out for me will do."

"Oh well, are you in luck! I have chosen one beautiful suite for you, and the view isn't too shabby either." She quickly tapped something the computer and grabbed a key card for her client. "Right this way sir."

Natsu grabbed his bags, which he was offered to have carried to his room, but he politely declined the offer. He then followed the young albino into an elevator as she told him all about the facilities and services they offered at the hotel. As they introduced Natsu to his suite, he was given a small tour of the place before leaving the man to be enveloped in silence.

He sighed, looking around, thinking of what he should do first. Should he call his father first and tell him the news about the next available flights or should he figure out which he should take before informing him? Natsu groaned, rubbing his temples. This was such a difficult choice. He **really** wanted to avoid going home, but how long could he avoid it? It wasn't like he could run away and live here all by himself. Heck, he didn't know much about the country other then the fact that it was the second largest country on the planet.

Natsu flopped on the queen-sized bed with a loud groan. Why was life so complicated? He laid there for ten maybe fifteen minutes pondering on the thought of what to do. Eventually he gave up and decided to take a shower. He hadn't had one since he booked out of his hotel in New York.

He quickly got up from the bed and threw off his black coat and white t-shirt. The coldness on his body made him shiver, just as he began to slip off his brown jeans and a pair of socks. He grabbed a towel from a wardrobe and made his way inside the bathroom in only a pair of boxer shorts.

The door shut gently just as the sound of warm water pouring down from the shower head was heard along with a long sigh of relief.

* * *

 _Boop-boo-doo-boop!_

 _'Moshi moshi?'_

"Moshi moshi. Dad it's me, Natsu." The boy spoke halfheartedly while drying his hair with a towel.

 _'Natsu? Where are you? Did you find a fight to Japan?'_ The older man on the other end waited impatiently for his sons response.

"I'm...In a hotel." The pinkette sighed. "I talked to the front desk and they say they won't be allowing flights to be lifting off for three days minimum, in case the snow storm decides to pull in towards the mainland."

 _'Then take the first flight home after the three days.'_ His father spoke with a loud tone, not very happy with the situation. _'When's the first flight to Japan? I'll tell the driver when to pick you up.'_

The pinkette held his breathe. What should he tell him?

 _'I might even have your fiancé to go and pick you up.'_

Natsu's bit his lip and clenched his left fist across his lap.

 _'Natsu? Moshi moshi? Natsu, are you still there? Are you listening?'_ The older man called for his son, slightly concerned.

"Yes, sorry." The pinkette let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

His father sighed, frustrated, before responding to his sons delayed reply. _'Just tell me when the first flight will be leaving and arriving here, so I can tell the driver.'_

"I don't know." The pinkette quickly said.

 _'What? So you didn't bother to ask on any further information on the first flight out? Natsu where is your head? Stop playing around and being so careless. You need to take more responsibility. Get yourself together, for crying out loud!'_ The man yelled at his son.

"Dad, I got to go." The pinkette interrupted. And without another word he put the phone down and stared at the carpeted floor beneath his feet.

He closed his eyes and sighed for the millionth time that day. He clearly lied to his father about knowing about a flight back to Japan, but he couldn't tell him. Something inside of him told him he needed to delay his stay here; avoid going home. But at the same time, he knew he had to be responsible and go home as he was told. But he couldn't do it. He needed more time to think.

Natsu quickly slipped off the bed, throwing the towel to the side and search for a pair of clean clothes to wear. When he found some, he quickly slipped on a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He then pull on his red sweater, along with a dark gray vest and wrapped his neck with his favourite white scarf. He grabbed some socks, put on his shoes and ran out the door with a NY knapsack over his shoulder.

He needed to get some fresh air and clear his mind before he lost his mind. Right now.

He exited through the main entrance of the hotel. He stood outside on the curb of the sidewalk, waiting for the signal to cue that he may cross. Looking up with a huff, watching the snow twinkle ever so gently to the ground. For some reason the snow brought a smile to his face. It was just so beautiful, so majestic.

 _Beep-boop-beep-boop!_

Natsu was quickly brought back to his senses as the crossing signal went off and he joined the other pedestrians in crossing the street. He shoved his hands in the pocket of his vest and attempted to bury half his face under the warm scarf, as chill winds blew their way.

Max wasn't kidding. It was cold out! And heck, if he thought it was cold back in New York, hell this was ten times worse.

He shivered slightly, wishing he wore his coat or brought some mittens with him. Even a warm hat would've been nice. But there was no use now. He was already on his way, to who knows where, and he had no plan in turning back just yet. Even if he was freezing his ass off.

As he looked ahead he saw a bunch of giggling girls gathering at a bus stop; greeting one another.

"This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Are you sure the boys will be coming too?"

"Of course! I called Dan before leaving and he said he and his friends will be there waiting for us at the exchange."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you two are dating. His friends are so cute. I hope one of them will ask me out."

"Not if one of them asks me out first."

The girls laughed and continued to squeal and kill the eardrums of poor passersby; including Natsu.

"Excuse me." The girls suddenly stopped to turn and look at the nervous pink haired man. They looked at one another, before giving him their full attention.

"Um, I'm kinda new here and don't know much about the city, let alone the country, but... Would you happen to know a place where I could maybe go and spend my afternoon there?" The boy felt his face flush. He wasn't good at talking to people, let alone strangers. But he needed to ask someone or he'd get lost in the city while trying to clear his mind.

"Oh, yes. There are so many places you could visit, especially at this time of year." The blonde – who looked like the leader of the group – spoke; overly cheerful, she was. "Beautiful places you **must** see are: Stanley Park, the Botanical Garden, Burnaby Village Museum, Yaletown, the Ice Rick, the Suspension Bridge, there's also a Christmas special musical or ballet at a theater somewhere... Oh and there are Winter Markets and malls, as well."

"Haha, maybe you should give the poor guy a list. He can't keep up with your crazy long list, gurl." A short, blue haired girl laughed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I get carried away sometimes. Here. How about you join us? We're heading over to Stanley Park right now, so we can tell you more on the bus ride there. How about it?" The blonde held out her hand to the pinkette, who nervously took the hand in agreement.

"Great! And look here comes the bus, right on time!"

* * *

"Bye bye!"

"Have fun!"

"Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!"

"Thank you and you girls also." Natsu waved to the girls as they went off to join the others.

He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, which held the directions and the name of each place the girls had mention on the bus ride to this park. He smiled. They were so nice to him, although he was a complete stranger. Maybe it was just him, but the people here seemed to be so much more approachable then anywhere else he had been.

He walked along the path, under a bridge-like structure, and down the path until he reached a body of water of some sort. The view was spectacular. The city, the bridge on the far end; even the water looked lovely. Although the girls insisted that the park was much more beautiful at night when the lights were lit up. Since it was already way past mid-day, he knew the sun would be setting in an hour or so, due to the hint of darkness in the sky already approaching.

He didn't want to stay here too long though, since he wanted to catch the bus and go to Yaletown; which wasn't too far from where his hotel was. The girls suggested he go there, since there was some festival going on there along with a winter market, sort of thing. They even told him some restaurants near by that he could have dinner at, if not back at the hotel.

As sunset approached an hour to half an hour later, Natsu found himself watching the beautiful sight of pinks and oranges colour the sky from a wooden bench in the park. His mouth was wide open, staring in awe. The colours danced and filled the sky so beautifully, making the sight so luxurious. He quickly reached into his NY knapsack and dug out his digital camera; which was patterned with stamps and stickers he gather from around the world.

He quickly flung his bag over his left shoulder and ran over to the ledge near the water. He quickly faced the camera, reaching his arm out to take the selfie, as the timer he set went off. In a few seconds a _'Snap!'_ was heard and the pinkette brought the camera back to see his picture. A smile crossed his face, signing his satisfaction with the picture.

Moments later the lights in the park, and the far bridge over the water, lit up with bright Christmas lights. He brought his camera to his face, clicking more and more pictures of the beautiful sight – with and without him in the pictures. He even asked a young couple to take a picture of him with the light display – filled with reindeer, Santa's sleigh, a Christmas tree, and snowmen, all made out of lights.

Although he was alone, he had fun.

Grabbing the next bus, he made his way to Yaletown; walking down the street, the rest of the way.

When he approached he was welcomed with lights, colours and so much holiday spirit. He found himself smiling the whole time he was there; while shopping, sightseeing, even while taking pictures – even if he wasn't in the photo.

It was as if he had forgotten all his worries; as if he had nothing eating his mind. He really was enjoying himself, for the first time in his life. He felt so free!

"Romeo, come on! Let's take a picture together in the photo booth."

"Okay, okay. Slow down, Wendy!"

The pinkette watched two young teens run off towards what seemed to be present box-like decorated photo booth. There were a few set up on the side, cover underneath tarps or under roof shades to avoid snow from damaging them. There were quite a few couples and groups at the station, trying to get their pictures, although not as many to create huge line ups.

Natsu smiled and thought, _'why not?'_

He made his way to one of the booths, on the far side of the area. There weren't many people there; to be honest, barely anyone was there. He walked up to a booth and went to open the curtain when a young blue haired women, whom seemed to be around his age, walk out of the booth. She looked very upset, maybe a bit frustrated.

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't know you were in here." Natsu, out of habit, bowed in apology

The blue haired girl just shook her head and walked away quickly.

The pink haired boy blinked in confusion but tried not to ponder to much on what had just happened. Instead, he slipped into the booth and paid the concession for the photos, getting ready in his pose.

 _FLASH!_

Natsu made a funny face.

 _FLASH!_

He stuck his tongue out, while crossing his eyes.

 _FLASH!_

He made a heart with his fingers, placing over the left side of his chest, and smiled.

 _FLASH!_

Natsu placed his elbows on his knees, letting his head rest on his hands as he smiled. When suddenly he felt warm lips touch his cheek, causing his eyes to stare out in shock and his cheeks to flush.

 _FLASH!_

He sat there frozen as the dim light of someones cell phone turned on.

"Oi, you're not Juvia." A raven haired man, maybe a few years older than Natsu, sat beside the boy in utter confusion. "Where is she?"

Natsu sat there speechless, glancing at the boy with embarrassment. He wanted to say something; ask him why which had just happened happened, but he couldn't get the words out. Let alone open his mouth to speak.

The raven haired man rubbed his neck awkwardly, realizing what had happened. "Ah, um... sorry about that..."

The pinkette looked away. How could he respond? He felt so awkward; so strange. He didn't know how to react or what to say but, "I-It's a-alr-right..."

His voice cracked a bit as he spoke. Which caused him to redden more.

"Hey."

The pinkette suddenly felt cold hands touches his cheeks as his face was lifted up to look the black haired man's face. He looked into those dark blue eyes with a blush.

"W-What are you doing!?" The pinkette pushed him away, finally able to regain himself.

"Sorry, was only trying to get your attention." The strange man sighed, resting his head in his hand. "...Again, sorry about the...you know... _kiss._ I thought you were my annoying girlfriend."

Natsu looked up at him, still blushing. "...Does she happen to have medium length blue hair?"

"Well... Actually, yes. How do you know this?" The ravenette looked at the boy with confusion.

"Well, she happened to walk out of the booth when I arrived. She seemed upset, maybe angry." The pinkette tried not to make eye contact with the boy. He found it too awkward to after what just happened, although he did apologize to him.

"What? Why?" The boy stood up, surprising Natsu.

"H-How would I know? I j-just got here. I don't e-even know her or y-you." Natsu found himself a little scared. Who knew what this guy was capable of if he was pissed off. He really didn't want to get beaten up in a foreign country. Heck! He didn't want to get beaten up, period!

"Ah, true. Sorry, man." The boy sighed. Flopping back down on the bench, covering his face in his hand. "Fuuuuuuuck me over with a bulldozer!"

"Language." Natsu scoffed out of habit. He honestly didn't swear much, being a strict rich man's son and all, he was forced to keep his manners in check at all times.

The stranger scoffed at the pinkette, continuing to talk to himself. "I really need to dump her; I don't even _like_ her, but Jesus, my parents would kill me if I were to date anyone of my choice."

Natsu looked at the boy with surprise. Was he being forced to be with someone he didn't like or because of business/family reasons? Just like him? He wasn't the only one then, if so.

"You're being forced by your family to date her? Why?"

"Yes and no." The boy began to explain, leaning back and staring at the ceiling since he was unsure how to continue the story without making it awkward for the other. "My parents thought it would do everyone a great favour if I dated Juvia. Not because of the money or business. I mean, sure, that too, but mainly to keep the family _honour_ or some bullshit like that, just because I came out to be a disgrace to the family."

"What do you mean by _'you came out to be a disgrace_ _to the family'_?" The pinkette found it strange to find someone stuck in the same situation as him. Well, sort of.

"...I'm...well you see...I like men."

Natsu stared at the guy in utter shock. He did not expect that at all. It wasn't like he was opposed to same-sex love or marriage, he rather questioned if he swung that way himself, but never had the chance to figure it out when he knew from the start that he was fixed to marry this girl his father had chosen.

"I mean, girls can be cute an all, but I've never really felt _it_ with them. No matter how many girls my parents hooked me up with, to get me to _dismiss_ of my feelings towards other boys, I just never felt happy, I guess you could say." The boy sighed. "Sorry, I know this is probably really weird for you, considering I accidentally kissed you, but trust me when I say I'm not the kind of guy who'd randomly make out with guys I just met."

Natsu blushed again, looking away. "I-It's fine, really."

The boy laughed. "You're really cute though, I have to admit."

The pinkette's face couldn't have turned another shade darker, at the compliment. This guy was crazy.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." The guy got up with a stretch. "Say, you wanna get some food? My treat; as in an apology that is."

Natsu looked up, his brows crossed yet unsure. Could he really go with this stranger? One that practically kissed him moments ago, even. Heck, he didn't even know the guys name.

The ravenette held out his hand to the unsure boy sitting on the bench. He had put on a smile, although he'd just spoken a sad story. Natsu had to hand it to him, he sure was cheery for a guy down in the dumps.

With a sigh, Natsu slowly placed his hand in the older males own, in agreement.

"Sweet!" The ravenette cheered. "By the way, the name's Gray Fullbuster. But my friends call me Gray."

"Um, my name's Natsu Dragneel. But you can call me Natsu." The pinkette smiled.

"Well Natsu, care to join me on a _date_ , let's say, at the Keg?" Gray smiled.

"S-sure." Natsu blushed, looking at the boy quite unsure.

"Then it's a date!" The ravenette chuckled to himself.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Natsu flopped on the bed. He was so drained that he had barely any strength left in him to move. He had a fantastic day around the city, although the awful start to the day with the plane delay and his father's phone call. And the night couldn't have been anymore splendid.

His dinner with Gray was nice, very nice...maybe too nice. The food was great, but that wasn't what made the dinner great. It was Gray. He somehow made the night feel so fantastic, entertaining and just wonderful.

It wasn't like they did anything out of the ordinary. They just ordered food and talked before the dishes arrived. Afterwards, Gray ordered a drink and before the two knew it Gray was dancing in the small hall.

Actually what happened was Natsu had left to the bathroom and when he returned Gray wasn't at their table. Instead he found a few more empty glasses on Gray's end of the table and a fully paid receipt. At first Natsu thought Gray had abandoned him after paying the receipt, but suddenly he heard laughing down the hall. The pinkette, grabbed his stuff and walked down to where the loud laughter came from to find a drunk ravenette dancing to music. There weren't many people in the hall, but there were enough to filled each corner of the room.

Natsu wasn't one to get overly drunk, after that one time when he almost got into loads of trouble after trying to drink away his sorrows. Watching his newly made friend drunk like this made him want to get out of the place before something bad happened. He didn't have to much experience with drunks, but he knew out of the little knowledge he had about this that it never ended well – for both drunkard and drunkard's sober friend.

Natsu had tried to get Gray's attention, maneuvering through the crowd to the raven haired boy and grabbing his broad arms. He tried to pull the intoxicated boy out of the hall, causing him to whine and beg not to take him home; that he wasn't done dancing.

When suddenly the music changed to a softer love song. The raven haired boy started to whine since he wanted to dance. Natsu insisted that they should get going since this was a couples dance only. But Gray would not give up. He whined and begged for Natsu to dance with him, promising to go home right after if he did.

Natsu bit his lip. He had rarely been to a dance party and even when he did go to one, he had never actually danced at one. He had only observed others. He didn't know what to do.

Gray on the other hand, being drunk as hell, didn't take any note of Natsu's expression. He had suddenly wrapped one arm around the smaller males waist and the other held his hand in his own.

Natsu was taken by surprise when he was suddenly being moved around to the music by the drunkard. The pinkette yelped, trying to keep up with the ravenette, as his face flushed in embarrassment. Although he was flustered as hell, the boy had to admit it was kind of fun.

When the song finished, the two pulled out of the restaurant and Natsu used Gray's phone to call someone to pick him up. At first he found it difficult to find anyone in Gray's family's number but to his luck Gray's older brother called to find out where his _'idiotic' –_ as the other said to Natsu over the phone – brother was rotting.

Once Lyon – as he introduced himself to be – picked Gray up, he offered to drop Natsu off at his hotel in appreciation of helping his drunk-ass brother.

And that's how Natsu's night was spent after meeting Gray.

He found himself blushing like a lovestruck teenage while his mind relayed the dinner, especially dancing with Gray. Why? He didn't understand. He just met the guy, yet he made him feel strange. Maybe it was the alcohol talking or the jet lag. He didn't know, but his emotions were really all over the place and he didn't know what to think of them.

Just as the boy was about to doze off, still covered in the clothes he wore during the day, his phone began to _buzz_ signing a new message. He rolled over to his side with a sigh, pulling the small device out and turning it on to see two new messages from his father.

He dolefully swiped the screen and opened the message, dying inside as he read the long text.

 _'I called the airport to ask them about the flight delay issue, knowing you would forget to do it..._

 _'I know what you're doing. You're trying to avoid coming home because you don't want to get married, am I right? Natsu, do you think life is a joke? That life is just all fun in games? What did I not give to you that you are now acting like this? Do you not understand, that you are to take the family business and continue to make it grow bigger, to bring up the family honour. You are getting married for the benefit of the business. I didn't choose just any random girl to take this position, but your long time best friend. So why are you acting so childish?'_

Natsu stared at the phone with half-lit eyes, biting his lip and tightening his grip on the phone, wanting to throw it out the window. He felt a hot tears threaten his midnight black eyes endorsed with burning hot rage.

He quickly typed in his response, trying not to crushed the phone in his tight grip.

 _'...Dad, I was going to tell you about it, but I just needed some time to think. Clear my mind a bit, also.'_

Almost instantly his father responded.

 _'Some time to think? Think about what? I clearly told you when you needed to be home by, and you had to think through whether to take the early arriving plane or late!? Natsu are you thinking straight!? Stop fooling around and get your ass back home on the early flight or I will personally fly myself over there and forcefully drag you back home.'_

The pink haired boy threw the phone across the room, _unluckily_ throwing it right into a piled of his clothes. He screamed into his pillow, pounding into them for a whole minute before suddenly stopping to breathe. As he took in several deep breaths and exhaled; hot angry tears soon found their way down flushed cheeks and onto the pillow below.

He hated everything so much. He honestly wished to be dead right now.

Suddenly the phone buzzed again.

"GO AWAY!" The pinkette yelled, covering his head underneath the pillow.

The phone buzzed again.

"FUCK OFF!" The boy swore, beyond pissed to really control his anger or language at this point.

The phone buzzed twice this time causing the boy to throw a pillow at the phone whilst sitting up in bed. He glared at the spot gritting his teeth, with tears staining his cheeks.

He then flopped back down to the bed, crying himself to sleep.

He was later woken up by the sound of the hotel room phone, in the morning of the next day. He rubbed his tired red eyes, picking up the phone. He spoke hoarsely as he tried to find out who was on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Good morning sir, I hope you slept well last night." The cheery albino haired receptionist responded.

Natsu grumbled to himself, clearly not having slept well due to a certain father.

"There is actually someone here to see you, by the name of Gray Fullbuster. Would you like me to send him up, sir?"

The pinkette blinked, now fully awake.

Gray? What was he doing here? And how did he know which hotel he was staying in?

"Sir? Hello?"

"Oh sorry. Yes, if it isn't any trouble, sent him up to my room please."

"No problem sir."

And with that Natsu put the phone down. He blinked widely, realizing how big of a mess he probably looked like. He hopped off the bed and ran into the bathroom to look at his reflection.

 _'Yikes!'_ He thought.

His eyes were blotchy and red from all the crying, his hair was messy and he looked as if he hadn't slept at all. He didn't want Gray to see him like this. He'd get so many worried questions, and he really didn't want to tell him about it.

He quickly ran back into the room grabbing the clothes on the floor and throwing them into and open traveling bag. He then grabbed the pillow, throwing it back onto the bed. Lastly he grabbed the still intact phone off the floor, staring at it hard before placing it on the bed side table and walking away from it without turning to even glance at it once.

The pinkette then began to throw off his shirt and pants, shoving them into the same open bag, then pulling out a fresh pair of boxer shorts and clothes. He pulled out his toothbrush and ran over to the door, to unlock it, before quickly slipping into the bathroom.

Just as he began the shower, a knock was heard at the door.

"Natsu, it's me; Gray." The familiar husky voice came from the other end of the hotel room door.

"The door's unlocked. Come in." The pinkette cleared his throat, realizing how hoarse it was.

The sound of the door opening and closing was heard as Gray helped himself inside.

"Sorry, I'm in the shower, so give me five minutes and I'll be right there." Natsu quickly washed his face, trying to get rid of the evidence or hint of the fact that he was crying last night.

"Okay," was the only response the ravenette gave him before leaving the hotel room to be quiet enough so only the sound of the shower could be heard in the room.

Natsu quickly washed himself and brushed his teeth. He shut off the tap, drying himself off with a towel and putting on his boxers and pants, realizing he had forgot his t-shirt. He blushed realizing that he now had to leave the bathroom, shirtless, just to get a t-shirt while Gray was there.

He found it uncomfortable to walk around shirtless, scared that people will stare. And the situation right now raised all levels of anxiety in him.

He put the towel over his shoulders, taking a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom.

Gray blushed, when he spotted the boy. He looked so fragile, but on the inside he was actually well built. His abdomen was decorated with small nicely tanned abs. Gray couldn't stop himself from looking. His skin look so smooth and soft, he just wanted to let his fingers touch and feel all of it.

"Sorry, for the wait... I-I just n-need to grab my shirt and then we can talk." The pinkette tried not to look at the ravenette, feeling too awkward already as it was.

He walked over to his open bag, grabbing a black shirt quickly slipping it on; causing Gray to feel a bit disappointed.

"So, what brings you here?" Natsu sat on the bed next to the ravenette.

"Oh, yeah." Gray scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, Lyon told me what happened last night, about me getting drunk and you calling him to pick me up. I'm sorry, for causing you trouble. I didn't plan to get drunk but, my parents called me when you went off to the washroom at the restaurant. Apparently, Juvia called my parents, telling them that she's done with me, that she saw me with some man, when I wasn't, and telling them that she couldn't live with a someone who never looked at her in the same way I looked at him... So they lectured me for the hundredth time but I cut them off, then ordered a few more drinks then I should have...and you I guess you know the rest. I guess, I'm just trying say sorry for causing you trouble and thank you for basically not leaving me there and sending me home safely. Don't know what corner I'd be rotting in if it wasn't for you."

Natsu looked at the boy shaking his head with a weak laugh. "No no, it's fine, really! I didn't want to leave you there, wasted on the floor. Besides, a story like that, I really can't blame you for suddenly getting intoxicated."

"Yeah, but I probably ruin the night for you. First the photo booth mishap then causing trouble for you at the restaurant. I ruin everything." The ravenette looked at the floor with great despair.

"No, that's not true. I had lots of fun. I enjoyed dancing for the first time in my life, with you. You probably don't remember, but when I was trying to get you to leave, you force me into dancing in a couples dance and although I've never danced in my life, it was really fun. Although it was really hard keeping up with you." The pink haired boy laughed a little to himself. "Seriously, don't sweat it."

Gray looked up at the boy with a smile. "Thanks."

Natsu smiled back. "Anytime."

* * *

The pink haired boy huffed and puffed, finding it hard to keep up with the older male ahead of him. "Wai...ah...wait!"

"Hurry up slow poke, or we'll miss the bus!" The ravenette laughed running backwards up the hilly street.

The pinkette could hardly breathe. He liked to keep himself in shape, no doubt, but running uphill killed his legs.

"Come on, we're almost there!" The ravenette turned back around to run up to the top of the street and turn a corner around the building.

"Oi! Wait up!" Natsu yelped, almost tripping over an uneven sidewalk block.

When he finally made it to the top, just to turn the corner into a certain ravenette who called out. _'BOO!'_ Natsu, unsuspecting this fell backwards with a yelp.

Gray laughed, reaching his hand out to help the boy up. Natsu growled in frustration.

"Meanie!" The pinkette pouted, before finally grabbing the hand to be lifted up. Then punching the ravenette in the arm, for scaring him.

"Haha, sorry! Sorry! I couldn't help it! Your expression was just priceless." Gray laughed, rubbing his arm.

Natsu scoffed, walking towards the bus stop bench and plopping down on the bench with a _'Huff!'_

The ravenette sat down, calming his laughter.

"Are you mad at me?"

Natsu only replied with a stubborn, _'Hmph!';_ arms folded.

"Aw, don't be like that. It was just a joke." Gray put his hand on the boys shoulder, but Natsu instantly shrugged his hand off. "Come on..."

The pinkette continued to ignore him, looking the other way. Sure, it was a joke. But after running for kilometres uphill, killing every ounce of strength in his legs, being frightened out of the blue so suddenly ticked him off. Especially since he lost his balance, just to fall on his butt!

"Natsu..." Gray tried to call him again, but the boy refused to listen.

"Natsu, look at me." The ravenette sighed.

"Hmph!"

"Natsu..."

Natsu shook his head, puffing his cheeks.

Gray suddenly places his hands on Natsu's cheeks, turning the boy around to face him. They stared at each other for a few seconds, making the pink haired boy blush. He quickly pushed Gray away.

"W-what in the world w-was that f-for!?" He exclaimed, feeling his face getting really warm.

Gray simply smirk, sticking his tongue out at the boy. "Got your attention, didn't I?"

"B-Bastard." The pinkette rubbed his cheeks, trying to get the warm feeling to go away.

Gray laughed, just as the bus approached their stop.

They rode all the way to the botanical garden, talking and laughing as they approached their stop. They got off the bus, thanking the driver, before making their way over to the entrance. They paid their admission and went on ahead instead. Since the sun had already set half an hour ago, the Christmas lights were lit. Natsu thought the sight was extremely fascinating. His mouth stuck open in awe as they walked around.

Gray thought the boy looked extremely adorable, exclaiming with excitement at all the lit up trees and how beautiful the reflections of lights looked in the water. How the boy hopped towards the pond with his camera, begging Gray to take a picture with him. He was so cute, the ravenette thought.

That silly smile; that childish attitude; the excitement; even the stubbornness of the boy. Gray loved everything about him. He just wished he could see that smile everyday, to be able to be by the boy's side at all time. To be the reason why the boy woke up and smiled each morning.

He wished, that if it were anything in the world he wanted for Christmas, that it was to be with Natsu on Christmas Day.

"Gray! Look, they turned on the fountain! Come on, I wanna get a picture of us with it." Natsu ran on top of a bridge, waiting for the ravenette.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming." Gray laughed.

When Natsu felt like he had enough pictures, and had seen every corner of the garden, they decided to leave and find somewhere to eat. They walked into a fast food restaurant, placed their order and sat down with their food.

They talked quite a bit. Natsu told Gray about all the cities he had been, including: varies cities in Japan and UK alone, Boston, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, Dijon, Stockholm, Dresden, and New York. And how it was his first time in Canada.

Gray told Natsu how he'd always wanted to travel, but the farthest he'd been away from home was visiting an aunt in Edmonton. And he'd only been to the States for shopping and watching a hockey match in Seattle.

They incredible had a lot to talk about. Although just meeting a day ago, they were quite open with one another. Natsu didn't know why, but he felt almost comfortable telling Gray everything; from stories of his childhood, stripped down right to the dark cold secrets he had – not like he was going to tell him. Those stories weren't something he was to keen on telling others about. He felt like they were just things that others shouldn't be troubled by or something.

When the night was done, Natsu found himself sitting on his hotel room bed with a smile. He felt so happy, like never before. He didn't know how or why, but Gray made him feel emotions he'd never felt before. Emotions he couldn't explain. Gray made him happy.

Natsu flopped down into his bed, with a smile, just as his phone messages went off. He frowned.

He really didn't want to speak to his father. But he knew he couldn't avoid him any further. It would only make the older man furious.

The pink haired boy picked up the buzzing phone off the bedside table, just to find 20 unread messages, but to his surprise none of them were from his father. They were all from his fiancé.

He quickly opened the messages, scrolling through each and ever single Japanese written message:

 _Lucy Heartfilla_

 _11:21PM, Dec. 20th_

 _'Natsu, are you okay?'_

 _'Father told me that your plane was delayed cuz of a snow storm, and I was worried.'_

 _'Is it true that you're going to miss Christmas? I'd really miss you, if you didn't come home.'_

 _'The Christmas parties are boring without you. (^.^_ _‶_ _)'_

 _01:03AM, Dec. 21st_

 _'...Your dad called a few hours ago. Is everything he told me true?'_

 _'He said that you're purposely skipping the flight back home just because you don't want to marry me...'_

 _'Do you... hate me, Natsu?'_

 _'I thought... you liked me, cuz since we were kids, you were always laughing and smiling when we were together. But around others you were always so quiet and antisocial...'_

 _'Did I misunderstand?'_

 _'Did I do something wrong to make you not want to marry me?'_

 _11:53PM, Dec. 21st_

 _'Natsu... I hope you're reading my messages cuz I am really upset. I don't understand what's going on inside your head.'_

 _'Please, talk to me.'_

 _'Text me, call me, send me an email; anything! Just please, please tell me what you want?'_

 _'Why are you avoiding us? Your father is worried about you...I'm worried about you.'_

 _'We just want to help. We want to understand you better, make you feel happy.'_

 _'We want you to come home.'_

 _'Please, I know you're probably trying to clear your head and solve something that none of us understand... I get it. You want some space.'_

 _'But tell me one thing: Is any of this related to our marriage? Is it my fault; am I not good enough? Or have you found someone better than me?'_

 _'If any of this is true... I'm sorry for getting in the way of everything.'_

 _'...I love you, Natsu.'_

Natsu stared at the last few texts with a sigh. He felt awful. He didn't want the girl to find out this way, or to feel this way at all. That's why he kept his feelings and thoughts about the arranged marriage a secret.

He had no feelings of hate towards her, she was his best friend. She was one of the very few people he really like interacting with. Maybe even one of the very few he even told his secrets to. She knew almost everything there was to know about him. The struggles he had to go through to get here, as a person; his favourite things and things he despised; what he actually wanted to do in his life; places he wanted to go; the things he wanted to discovered; she basically knew most out of everything there was to know about him. She even helped him when the struggles of life lead him into a very depressive state, back in middle school. She was the most best thing that had arrived in his life, but that was all she was to him; a **best** friend. Nothing else!

His father had completely misinterpreted their friendship for something more, and Natsu really wished he could have convinced him that he had no feeling towards the girl, in that way. But his father was stubborn, and would not come to reason with the boy.

When he told her how they were going to be forced to marry one day, the girl questioned if it was a bad thing. Natsu was taken back that day when the girl actually confessed her feelings towards him, and he realized how his actions really misinterpreted to the world that he liked the girl in that way, when clearly he didn't.

After he left for England, he kept in contact with her, but tried his best to avoid any conversation about the wedding and all that stuff. He was sure she would get the hint every time he avoided the topic, but at this point he realized she really had fallen for him and still was in love with him.

Natsu thought hard and thought well of how to respond to the girl. He couldn't hide anything from her, she knew him too well to pick up his lies. But he had to make his answer convincing and mostly true.

When he finally figured it out, he began to text back, rereading his message twice before hitting send.

 _'...I'm sorry. I wasn't ignoring your messages, was just busy visiting the city. It's really nice here, I'll send you pictures.'_

 _'Look... I've told you before, when we were younger, that I'm not so keen on the whole idea of this marriage thing. I know you like me, but I don't like you any more than as my best friend; and you know that. I don't want to ruin our friendship, but this marriage is just something I don't want. Father won't listen to reason with anything I say, and I don't think I can avoid this anymore... I thought this weather storm was giving me a sign...a second chance, maybe, to do something before it's too late. To maybe find a way to finally live the life I want to live, the way I want; no strings attached.'_

 _'Luce, don't look at this the wrong way. You're like the sister I never had, and you've made my life worth meaning, but this marriage is only going to ruin the years of our hard built friendship... And I don't want to lose that... I hope you understand. I'm sorry.'_

Natsu grunted as he flopped with his back on the bed. He felt awful. But it had to be done. He knew she would be upset, maybe cry for a few days and refuse to leave her room or eat or anything, but if he didn't say anything this might bite him in the back a few years into the future.

When the phone began to buzz again, Natsu was startled awake, not recalling when he'd actually fallen asleep. He rubbed his eyes with a yawn, looking at the time then at his phone.

He had another message from his fiancé, his father and an unknown number.

He groaned, putting the phone down and getting ready first.

He showered, brushed his teeth, combed his hair and clothed himself before grabbing the phone to check the messages.

 _Father  
_

 _4:47AM Dec. 22nd_

 _'Natsu, what did you tell her? She called an hour ago crying and saying things like she doesn't want to see you again.'_

 _'You better not have messed up again, or I'll really have your head this time.'_

Natsu gritted his teeth and gripped his phone tightly, wanting to throw it again, but restrained to do so. Instead he opened up the message from the heartbroken young women.

 _Lucy Heartfilla_

 _3:59AM Dec. 22nd_

 _'...I see. I'm sorry. I really like you and I thought you did too, since you always smiled when we were together but with others you only smiled in respect or because you were told to. I really never meant to get in the way. I'm so sorry.'_

 _4:20AM Dec. 22nd_

 _'Natsu... Are you sure, you are not seeing anyone? ...Is she more beautiful than I am? Smarter? Trustworthy? I really don't understand why you would refuse to this wedding just over something so little. You must have found someone better in order to want to avoid this wedding... Please, don't hide something like this from me.'_

Natsu was taken back, he didn't know how to respond. She really wasn't taking this well and had become to be delusional. He wanted her to be happy again, and move on to someone who would appreciate her love. But he knew, after hearing the guy your to-be-married to say he doesn't love you, only likes you as a friend or sister, of course you'd be heartbroken for days on end.

But the last message was something else. It wasn't like he even tried to date anyone, or try to be interested in any other girl. It just never happened. Maybe it was because of the anxiety of talking to anyone other than those few that approached him first, when he was younger. But he never even felt the need to attempt to ask any of the girls, he knew, if she wanted to get a coffee or even attempt to befriend one.

So why would she even assume he'd fallen in love with anyone?

Natsu ignored it, and simply replied with:

 _'Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not your fault. You're a great girl, anyone would be happy to have you as their wife. But that someone is not an ungrateful idiot, like me.'_

He then moved onto the mystery message, from the unknown number.

He read the message once, then twice; even a third time, to figure out who it was. But the message simply read:

 _9:00AM, Dec. 22nd_

 _'Good morning~ Rise and shine. ;)_

 _Come down stairs to see a little surprise.'_

He stared at the screen for a few minutes. Who was this? The message was so vague and held no hint to whom it could be or how they got his number.

He grabbed his stuff – jacket, knapsack and all – and stood in front of the door, messaging the mystery person.

 _'Excuse me? Good morning to you to. But who is this?'_

He unlocked the door and left the door, towards the elevator at the end of the hall.

 _'Can't tell? Well, come down stairs and see. Look for someone with reindeer antlers and a green Christmas sweater. ;P '_

The elevator door opened to the lobby. Natsu walked out looking for the described person in the text. He watch the people leave and enter from the front entrance and employees working around, but he couldn't find the described person in the text.

"Good morning sir, are you enjoying your stay?" The albino receptionist walked over with a smile. She wore a pair of reindeer antlers and had on a very interesting green sweater.

"Oh, very much, yes." Natsu realized the receptionist fit the description in the text, but wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence that she happened to be wearing the same outfit. "Um..."

"Yes?" The girl held back a giggle.

"I-um...I was wondering if you happened to be the person I'm looking for. I got this text saying to look for someone with antlers and a green sweater." The pinkette showed the girl the message on his phone.

"Mmhmm! Yep, that's right." She giggled. "I was told to hand you this envelope when you came down."

She handed the pink haired boy a red envelope, which he took with a _'Thank you.'_ He opened it careful, to find a nicely folded white note. He opened the note and read it aloud.

"Good morning, sunshine. A great day starts with a heartwarming breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Go to the nearest Tim Hortons."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, flipping the paper over trying to find out who it was from, but it had no sign. He was curious to find out who, so he asked the receptionist – who insisted he call her Lisanna, from now on – where the nearest Tim Hortons was and quickly made his way there.

When he reached, he found a green note on the door labeled _'For Natsu's Eyes Only.'_ He opened the note and read the letter written inside:

 _'This place sells really good Timbits and coffee. Order enough for the two of us and make your way to the bus stop on the other end of the street.'_

Natsu did as the instructions said, putting the freshly bought timbit box in his bag and holding the coffee in their carton tray. He crossed the street at the cross section, and made his way to the bus stop to find a blue note with his name on it.

He sat down and opened the note. A bus ticket fell out just as he began reading the contents inside:

 _'Here's a bus ticket, take it to all the way to the exchange. There, you'll find a man in a red hat and scarf. He'll give you your next clue.'_

Just as Natsu finished reading it, the bus arrived and he got on. He was really excited to find out who this mystery person was and where they were sending him. It was strange though. He didn't know any people here, besides the crazy taxi driver, Lisanna, maybe the girls he met on the way to Stanley Park, and Gray.

He knew for sure it wasn't Lisanna, since she gave him one of his hints. And the group of girls didn't know where his hotel was, so it had to be between Max and Gray.

When he approached his stop, he thanked the bus driver. On his way out, he ran into a strange bearded man, who handed the boy a purple envelope. Natsu noticed the man was wearing a red scarf and hat and smiled as the man left.

He opened the enveloped and read the letter aloud:

 _'This is the last letter, promise. Now make your way towards the skytrain platform. Look for someone holding a pink rose.'_

Natsu, without a single thought in mind, walked towards the step and ran up them, all the way to the skytrain platform. Once up, he looked around for a pink rose while trying to catch his breath.

There were quite a lot of people, probably to go to work or school elsewhere in the province.

He quickly maneuvered his way through the crowd, standing on his tip toes after awhile to see if he could spot the pink flower. In the end, he wound up getting lost in the crowd, not knowing which way he was going. When the train arrived, the platform cleared up a bit, helping him see better.

As the train left, the pink haired boy spotted someone sitting on the benches with a pink rose in his hand; BINGO!

He ran over with a smile, huffing and puffing to catch his breath.

"Gray? So it was you?" The pinkette exclaimed.

"Yep. Your phone just happened to be lying there, when you went to grab our drinks at the restaurant, last night. So I grabbed it and sent myself a text through your phone." Gray laughed, standing up and holding out the flower. "Take it, it's for you."

"Huh? Why?" The pinkette raised an eyebrow as he took the flower.

He wasn't one to be gifted so often, since he lived in a family wealthy enough to meet all his wants and needs. So random gifts of appreciation were uncommon in his life, without reason.

"For being such a great friend in the past few days. Plus the pinkness of the flower reminds me of you. You know – because of your hair. By the way, why'd you dye it pink of all colours? Not that I don't like it. It's cute."

Natsu blushed as he felt Gray touch his hair. He pushed Gray's hand away with a whine. "S-stop that!"

"But it's so soft." Gray pouted, making the pinkette raise an eyebrow.

Natsu looked away, running his fingers through his hair in attempts to fix it.

"Fine, sorry." The raven haired boy sighed.

"...So why'd you call me here?" Natsu glance at the boy, realizing the coffee was probably getting cold.

Gray grabbed his cup, folding the tab and taking a long gulp of warm coffee with a sigh. "Well, since you said you're just here till the flights are airborne again, I thought, why not take you to a few more places around B.C. And if you like, I can take you to my house for dinner or we could come back here to the park and have a picnic."

"Wow, you planned all that just for me?" Natsu eyes sparkled in bewilderment. He never knew someone could be so generous to go out of his way to plan something so nice.

Gray smiled. He really loved that gorgeous smile and those petite glimmering eyes. Natsu was really adorable.

"Yeah. We'll catch the train and go all the way to Waterfront. There we'll take a seabus and go to Granville Island. You'll really like it there. It's a huge tourist attraction. Lots of souvenirs and all the festive lights. If you want you can even take pictures with Santa." Gray chuckled lightly.

Natsu watched the other male drinking his coffee. He really had planned this whole thing out well. Gray was amazing!

When the train finally arrived, they rode it all the way to the end and got off and onto a seabus. Natsu watched out the window, pointing as whale began to breach the surface. He took a few pictures of the whales and even a selfie with Gray, who had actually fallen asleep on his seat. When Gray awoke, he yelled at the other to delete the photo, but only earned a playful _'nope!'_ from the giggling boy.

When the seabus finally hit land, Natsu ran out like a speeding bullet with Gray behind him. They walked around for hours on the island taking pictures of the city, lights, people, shops, dancers even with Santa and together.

Natsu even bought a few souvenirs for himself and a few friends back home. Cool little trinkets, aboriginal totem pole key chains and dream catchers were his favourites. He even bought a postcard and magnet, just for a traveling scrapbook he had.

Gray smiled the whole time, although yelling at the boy to slow down or to stop leaning over the railing when he thought he spotted another whale. He had fun. He even bought a few items himself, thinking it was a good way to get a some Christmas gifts in for some friends and his lousy brother.

While Natsu was watching some dancers, Gray went inside to see if there was anything interesting to eat. While coming back with some sushi and cookies, he spotted a shop selling some key chains, necklaces, bracelets and all these small friendship ornaments. Out of all the designs and shapes of items he saw, one stood out the most.

"Gray! Come on, it's getting dark and there are still more places I want to go." The cheerful pink haired boy ran over to his friend. "What'chu buying, hmm?"

"Oh nothing, just a key chain" Gray paid the lady and lead the energetic pinkette back to the seabus.

They ate their snacks, and finished the rest of the timbits by the time they were on the skytrain. When they reached their next stop, Gray had to wake up his tired pink haired friend, who was still recovering from jet lag.

They got off on the street, grabbing another bus towards the Village Museum. Natsu almost instantly fell asleep, curled up against Gray's shoulder.

Gray honestly didn't mind. He found it rather cute.

When they finally approached, Natsu's mouth couldn't have opened up wider in awe. The sight was too beautiful to even put into words. Gray was, again, chasing behind Natsu as he ran around from one place to another; trying to get a glimpse of everything in the place. They listened to brief history lessons on how pioneers lived and went to school, how things were, and they got to see a lot of lights, once again.

It was fantastic. And again, Natsu had taking pictures of almost everything there.

On the way home, Gray managed to keep the pinkette awake, by keeping him in conversation. They talked all the way home on the transit, until a sudden _buzz_ from Natsu's phone caused Natsu to stop talking completely and stare at his phone in utter despair.

"Natsu?" Gray stared at the boy confused. "Natsu, is everything okay?"

The pinkette didn't respond, but continue to stare at the phone with half-lit eyes. It was as if all that enthusiasm was suddenly ripped away from the boy, all at one.

"Natsu..." The ravenette placed his hand on Natsu's shoulder, startling the boy and bringing him back to reality.

"Oh...sorry. Zoned out a little bit there. Don't worry about me, I'm just tired that's all..." The pinkette fibbed, trying to avoid eye contact with Gray.

Gray took notice of this and held Natsu's cheek in his hands, turning his head to face his own.

Natsu blush, but made no attempt to push him away. He just felt so done, that he just didn't have the strength to push Gray away anymore.

"S-stop. What a-are you doing?"

"I know that was a straight up lie, and I know something is wrong. No one just suddenly goes from a laughing fit, to completely depressed in a mere second. Talk to me." Gray stared into those saddened golden eyes.

Natsu shook his head away from the older males loose grip, turning to face his head away.

Gray sighed, wanting to help the boy so bad. It broke his heart to see that smile fade.

"If you're not going to tell me... Can you at least promise me you'll be okay?" The raven haired boy cocked his head to the side to try and see the pink haired boy's face.

Natsu turned his head away more, if possible, responding with a soft, _'U-n...'_

A worried expression resided on the ravenette's face, but he felt like he was completely useless in this situation. Since he just met Natsu, and it was unlikely that the boy would tell a strange guy he just met about something disturbing him. And from the little he knew about Natsu, he found out the boy had a bit of a trust issue or felt uncomfortable when taking about his life or family back in Japan.

"...I just... feel tired and want to go back to my hotel. That's all.." Natsu spoke softly, unlike his joyous self earlier.

"But we haven't even had dinner yet?" Gray scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"...You can go on without me. I'm really full anyways." Natsu got up from his seat as the next stop – his hotel street's stop – was called. "Good night, Gray."

"Natsu!?" Gray called, but the bus door closed and the bus began to move, leaving the pink haired male to be alone out on the streets.

* * *

"Good morning sir! Here to see Mr. Dragneel, again?" The albino receptionist giggled.

"Yes please." Gray sighed, hoping the boy was okay.

"Well, you can go on right ahead. No need to ask." Lisanna smiled.

"Thank you."

Gray walked over to the lift, taking it all the way up to Natsu's floor. He then made his way over to the boy's suite and knocked gently on the door, waiting for a response. He knocked a second time, a few moments later, waiting, but no reply.

Gray began to worry. Was Natsu okay?

"Natsu. It's me Gray, open up." He called, knocking for a third time. But yet again no response. "Natsu!"

Gray was practically banging on the door now whilst yelling Natsu's name. At this point he didn't care if the neighbours complained.

He rested his hand on the doorknob, turning to handle, and to his luck it was open. He paused, in silence, staring at the open door before quietly entering the room.

"Natsu?" He shut the door behind him and walked out of the hall and towards the bed. There he found the pink haired boy curled up in a ball, hugging a large pillow. He was in his red shorts and white t-shirt. His hair was a mess and it was too hard to see his face, since it was facing away from him.

"Oi, why didn't you answer the door and why are you ignoring my texts? Are you okay?" Gray scrunched his eyebrows, in frustration but mostly worry. "Natsu, can you hear me?"

"...Go away, Gray. I just want to be alone." The pink haired boy clenched the pillow in his hands tighter.

"Why should I? You're clearly not in a well state. I'd be a bad friend if I left you to rot in your own sorrow." Gray sat on the bed, staring at the boys back, with worried eyes.

Natsu bit his lip, wishing the ravenette would just leave. He didn't need his empathy. It wasn't like the guy would understand his situation anyways, so why was he here? It wasn't his problem, so why did he bother?

"Natsu, I know something's wrong. I don't know what, but ever since you got a text from someone, last night, you haven't been yourself. Sure I may be a stranger, but I'm here to listen if you need someone to talk. I honestly want to help you." He looked down at the bed sheets with half lit eyes. "Please don't block me out."

"...You wouldn't understand." Natsu choked, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry. "...No one would."

"You wouldn't know unless you've try." Gray attempted to rub the pinkette's back, but was quickly rejected.

Natsu pushed Gray's hand away and sat up, angrily. "S-stop! Just stop being so-so...nice!"

Gray stared at the boy's upset expression with wide eyes.

Natsu was a mess! His eyes were bloodshot and blotchy from all the crying he probably endured all night. His cheeks were flush but at the same time he looked a little pale.

Gray's worries increased at this sight and was left completely speechless.

Natsu hiccuped, scrunching his eyebrows as he stared at the bed sheets while rubbing his left eye.

"...Why do y-you ev-even care about m-me?" He swallowed hard, trying to calm the crying. "Y-you don't even k-know me..."

"Because even if we just met a few days ago, you're still my friend. I'd be concerned if anyone I knew was upset and looked like they were crying all night." Gray weakly smiled.

"...I-I d-don't understand. I'm a c-complete stranger th-though." Natsu wiped his face with his arm, keeping his arm there in attempts to hide his face from the ravenette.

"If you were a stranger why would I go out of my way to plan and spend my entire day with you?" Gray grabbed the boy's arm, moving it away from his face. "Why would I be here, in your hotel room, confronting you? In all honesty, if you were a stranger, I would probably not even bother to make an attempt to talk to you and come over to your hotel room to make sure you were okay."

Natsu looked down at the sheets not wanting to let Gray see his tear dirtied face. He hiccuped several times, before dropping his head into Gray's chest, and sobbed. He uncontrollable sobbed, without another word.

Gray sighed, letting go of the boy's arm and hugged him. He stroked his soft pink hair, trying to calm him down.

They sat there like that for maybe ten, fifteen minutes? Who knows. Because neither moved, or spoke, for such a long while, no one really watched how long they sat there for. They sat like that, enveloped in silence – other than the soft sounds sobs and hiccups coming from Natsu's shaking body – until Natsu finally quieted down into a deep slumber.

Gray held the boy tightly in his arms, stroking his hair a few more times before lying him back down into the bed.

He watched as each breath enter and left those slightly parted pink lips; his clothed chest rose and fell with each gentle breath. How that sprawled out salmon pink hair, on the pillows, glistened in the bit of sunshine that peaked from the closed curtains. Oh how peaceful he looked asleep like that; with no worries and troubles disturbing him.

He probably needed this; to let tears lose and take a long sleep.

Whatever it was Natsu was going through, Gray would ask him once he woke up. He decided to stay by his side until woke up and was confirmed to be okay.

* * *

Natsu yawned, waking up to the sound of someone softly snoring. He rolled his body over to come face to face with a certain black haired boy sleeping next to him.

He blushed realizing how close they were. They were close enough that Natsu could feel Gray's cold breath on his face, making him shiver slightly.

Natsu wondered how they came to be in this situation and how Gray got here. When suddenly the memories of the morning came back to him.

His eyes widen, remember each an every detail of Gray coming here, him yelling at Gray to leave him alone and how Gray calmed him to sleep. The memory was very clear in his mind, and he felt horrible. He felt horrible that he caused Gray so much trouble, to come here and make sure his depressed butt was okay, just to get yelled at. He hated himself so much right now.

Suddenly the older male yawned, waking up himself. Natsu sat up with his back face Gray, not wanting to see Gray's face. He was probably pissed at Natsu for overreacting.

"Oh, you're awake." Gray smiled, raising himself up with his elbows. "Feeling better?"

"U...U-n." Natsu mumbled.

The radar in Gray's head went off, telling him something was wrong. He frowned, sitting himself up properly.

"Natsu? Look at me."

The pinkette hesitated, biting his lip. Gray was probably going to get mad at him, tell him he wasted his time here when he could've gone out with his friends or something.

"Natsu... What's wrong?" Gray put his hand on the boys shoulder, startling him a bit.

"N-nothing. Nothing at all. W-why are you asking?" Natsu clenched his fists over his lap.

"Natsu, stop playing games. I know something's wrong. Please, talk to me..." Gray frowned.

Natsu bit his lip. "...How can you sit here with a loser like me, after so much as yelling at you when you were only trying to help?"

Gray sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, it was understandable. You were just venting out your frustrations and I'm not mad at all for that."

"But..." Natsu hiccuped.

"Hey, it's in the past. And I said I forgave you, so don't worry about it. I'm just here to make sure you're okay." Gray smiled, clenching Natsu's shoulder tighter.

Natsu reached over to hold the cold hand on his shoulder with a sniffle. "...T-thanks, Gray."

"Now, do you want to tell me what happened or..." Gray began, suddenly getting cut off by Natsu's hoarse voice.

"...My dad messaged last night. I'm a failure in his eyes..." The pinkette clenched Gray's hand tighter.

Gray look down at the boy with half-lit eyes. He didn't speak, letting Natsu finally open up, not wanting to jump to conclusions too soon and upset the boy further. Instead he listen carefully to each and every word that poured out of the younger male's mouth.

Glancing at the mobile device on the table beside him, through his pink hair that covered his hair, he continued to tell his tale.

"My-my fiancé told my father everything." Gray flinched at the word _fiancé_. Natsu was engaged? It was as if someone ripped out his heart and stabbed it with dulled pocket knife, over and over, and over and over again. Then threw it off a bridge into the vast canyon of darkness.

Natsu bit his lip, keeping his grip on Gray's drifting hand, tight, not wanting him to let go of him.

"She's pissed; no, beyond pissed. I guess after all the years of being friends, I never realized how my actions mislead her to think I liked her the same way she liked me. But I don't. I only see her as a best friend, maybe even a sister. But she really seems to have fallen in love with me..."

Gray looked towards the curtains. It really hurt him to hear this story. Finding out Natsu was engaged with a girl who loved him a lot. He kind of wished it were him instead of that girl.

"...When she called my father telling him everything; otousan wasn't very happy. He's rather really upset with me. He told me to grow up and stop with my childish shenanigans and get my ass home before Christmas or he'd really have my head. At first, I ignored it and went out, trying to clear my head... But he later told me that he made the biggest mistake _adopting_ me from my older brother, who couldn't take care of me. That he should have just let me rot on the streets along with him." The smaller one's body began to shake again. As each hiccup erupted from his lips, tears would follow down tainted pale cheeks.

Gray sat there, mouth wide open, unable to respond. What would he say in a situation like this? It was one thing to have an argument with your father over an unwanted marriage, but being told that you were adopted and it was the big mistake they made to adopt you? That was completely heart wrenching and just so wrong in so many ways. He couldn't believe Natsu's father would say such a thing to him.

"I just hate everything! I hate my father; I hate my so called best friend; I hate my unknown brother; I hate finding out I'm _adopted_ ; I hate the world; and the most of all, I hate me!"

Suddenly clothed arms pulled the younger male into and embrace in the warm body of the ravenette. Natsu's teary eyes widened, staring ahead into the chest of the older male with a blush.

"Gra-"

"Shh, don't say another word. Please..." Natsu felt a cold drop fall on his face. Was Gray crying?

"I honestly, don't know how it feels to be in your situation. And I probably never will. But please, just know that none of this is your fault and you shouldn't be hating yourself for how faith fucked everything up. You're special, in every god damn way possible, and you should be proud of it. If your _father_ can't see that, then he honestly needs to get himself a hell of a good pair of glasses."

Natsu buried his face into the canadian boy's chest, as hot fresh tears began to fall. He gripped Gray's dark collared shirt with a choked hiccup, trying to breathe right.

"You need to cut those strings loose, find your own path and tell them you will do things on your own choice, not on someone else choice. You draw your path to your future, no one else." Gray stroke the pink hair with a sigh.

Natsu loosened his grip on the older one's shirt, with a weak smile.

He honestly felt better, telling Gray everything. Why he told him, he didn't know. But his gut told him that this guy may be a stranger, but he was trustable. He owed Gray a huge token of his gratitude, and he knew just how.

He just felt a little embarrassed doing something like that.

"Natsu..." Gray looked down at the boy, questioningly.

The pink haired boy removed his face from Gray's chest, wiping his face then smiling up at Gray.

Gray smiled back. Natsu was finally back. "Glad to have that smile back."

"Thank you, for... everything, Gray. I owe you." Natsu looked up with sparkling golden eyes, smile still on his face.

"No, no. It's fine. You don't owe me anything." Gray began, scratching his neck awkwardly.

"Well, at least let me give you this for now." Natsu raised himself up slightly, placing a quick kiss on Gray's cheek. As he sat himself back down, both boys were blushing like crazy, especially Gray who was taken by surprise.

"W-what was that f-for?" Gray stuttered, looking away in attempts to hide how flustered he was.

"To thank you. You really pulled me out of that dark loop in my mind, so thank you, really." The pinkette smiled.

Gray smiled, unsure of what came next.

The pink haired boy simply embraced the older boy with a smile, thanking his canadian friend once again, earning an embrace back.

Neither them realizing that this was a start to a new and profound friendship – and maybe, just maybe, something more.

* * *

 _1:10PM, Christmas Eve_

 _'Beep, bo-de-boop boop, beep'_

"Hello. YVR Vancouver airport, how may we help you?" The receiver answered.

"Hello, I'd like to ask about the weather storm flight delay issue. When is the next flight to Japan?" The pink haired boy played with the telephone cord waiting for a response.

"Oh, you're in luck. The terrible storm flew over just yesterday morning, and flights are airborne as of today. All passengers who were on the way to Japan during the delay are to take the 5 o'clock plane at gate D67. The plane will depart at 5:45 o'clock." The lady on the other end responded overly cheering.

"Thank you so much."

"You're most welcome, sir. Merry Christmas."

Natsu smile. "Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too."

He put the phone down with a _'clink'_ and returned to pack his stuff.

He sighed. He was gonna miss this place. It was such a lovely place and the people were so lively and friendly. He'd miss all that so much. Especially all the lovely people he met, such as Lisanna, the 9am bus driver and, of course, Gray.

"Ready to go, huh?" Natsu stumbled backwards, surprised to see a certain black haired boy standing in the doorway of the hotel room suite.

"Yeah... I wish I could stay, but I really should get back to Japan. Everyone is really worried back home. Plus, I want to find out more about this older brother of mine." Natsu stared blankly at no where in specific.

Gray took note and sighed walking over and patting the boy on the head. "Well don't you go forgetting about me after you get home. You have my number, thanks to me, so you better message me every single day and keep me updated. Send me pictures of yourself too."

Natsu smile with a nod. "U-n. I will, promise."

Gray smile; sadness hidden behind it. He really was going to miss that sweet smile, that joyful laughter and all the fun times they had in the past few days. Even the day he comforted the crying young boy, was a special day to him. Even if it did end in a lot of crying, at least he got the pinkette laughing and smiling.

Gray touched his cheek at the memory of soft warm lips touching. He would miss that the most. The feel of those lips touching his cheek.

Now it wasn't like they had confessed to one another, yet he regretted that he hadn't said anything. Besides, Natsu was engaged, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"So when do you have to be at the airport by?" Gray grabbed a black t-shirt with a strange red symbol on it and _'Fairy Tail'_ written on it on the front and began folding it, then handed it to Natsu.

"Thanks." Natsu took the shirt from Gray. "Well the lady at the airport said the gates closed at 5:45PM, so I should be there before then."

"Good." The ravenette handed a few more folded clothes to the boy. Then rested his hands on his hips with a satisfied look.

"What?" Natsu raised an eyebrow; placing the last of his stuff into his bag. "What's with that look on your face?"

"Oh nothing." A smirk played on the older one's face causing the other to pout.

"Tell me! I wanna know." Natsu puffed his cheeks.

Gray chuckled lightly and pat the boy on the head as he walked towards the door. "Just be ready in half an hour outside the hotel."

Natsu watched Gray leave. He raised an eyebrow. What was Gray thinking?

* * *

 _2:07PM, Christmas Eve._

The pink haired boy sighed, watching as his frozen breath floated away. It was cold out, colder than usual. And he really wasn't use to it. He would've been inside, but a certain ravenette insisted that he wait outside so he could find him faster.

Gray told him he'd be here in half an hour, but it's been fifteen – maybe more – minutes since that half an hour ended.

"Urgh, where are you ice popsicle! I'm freezing here." Natsu sniffled, hugging himself in frustration.

"Oi, sunshine, over here!" Natsu looked up to find Gray standing by a blue corvette a couple meters away.

"Took you long enough! You know I don't like being out in the cold for to long." The pinkette growled.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I had to convince my brother to let me use his car so we could go out for a little bit before your flight." Gray scratched his neck with an awkward smile. "Took me awhile to make a deal with him. Guess I'll be doing a lot of his chores for the next month."

Natsu blushed. Gray did all that for him. He didn't know what to say.

"Sugoi- I mean, wow! You really did that for me?" Gray nodded, making Natsu open his wider mouth in awe. "You didn't have to?"

"No, I didn't. But I wanted to make your last day in Vancouver feel special." Gray grabbed one of the pinkette's bags and lead them to the car. "Come on, lets not waste time."

"Aye!" Natsu quickly followed behind.

Once all set and ready to go, Gray pull the car into _drive_ and off they went.

Natsu had to admit, riding in the car alone with Gray was something much different than taking the transit. It was fun. They talked and joked, but it soon died down after a few kilometres. Natsu knew it was probably because of him, since he was living.

Neither wanted to admit it to the other that Natsu leaving would make them sad, but it had to be done one day or another. He couldn't stay here forever; at least not on visitors visa.

The pink hair boy sighed, watching people outside on the streets playing with snow or just strolling along with someone special. He smiled. How happy they were, living every day as if it were their last. And here he was sulking because he wasn't going to be in the country anymore, by the end of the day.

"Say, Gray. Where are we going exactly?" Natsu finally broke the silence between them.

"Hmm, somewhere special. It's not too far from the airport. They do this cool thing on Christmas Eve, with all these lights, costumes and dancing. So I thought I'd take you there." Gray drove off a bridge, continuing down the highway towards their destination.

"Hmm, sounds nice." Natsu smiled at Gray. "You really are great guy, Gray. Gonna miss hanging out with you."

Gray hummed sadly, looking straight ahead with half-lit eyes.

This was really going to be a tough goodbye...

* * *

 _2:52PM_

"Wake up Natsu we're here."

Natsu was shaken awake, finding himself in a strange car. Wait where was he again? Oh right, he's with Gray.

"Mornin' sleepy head. The jet lag still ain't serving you good, eh?" Gray laughed helping the tired boy out of the vehicle.

"Where are we?" Natsu rubbed his eyes with a yawn.

"Welcome to Water Sky Garden!" Gray grinned widely.

Natsu had to admit, the guy was cute. Wait, what?

"Come on! We got two hours to waste before we ship your ass back off to Japan." Gray grabbed the boys arm, dragging him away in excitement.

Natsu laughed. Gray sure was energetic, he thought.

The two walked around the garden having crazy fun. Although it was mostly sight seeing and talking amongst themselves. Natsu had taken a few pictures, here and there, but he wasn't the only one. Gray was also taking pictures. Not really of the lights and scenery around them, but of Natsu and them together. He claimed that he wanted to remember this night, and have digital memory of Natsu. That way he would never forget him.

Natsu thought it was sweet, and let him do as he pleased. It was the least he could do to keep his memory in Gray's heart... well, in this case, phone.

As an hour and half went by, it began to snow just as the night came in. A group of dressed up actors began to come out as a man in a red and white suit waved laughing. "Ho ho ho!"

"Oh my gosh, look Gray! They're bringing out Santa and his sleigh." Natsu ran over to the crowd.

Gray laughed, walking over to join the enthusiastic boy.

They were Christmas carolers and they were singing, _"Santa Claus is Coming to_ Town" and "Rudolph _the red nose reindeer."_ Natsu didn't know the lyrics, but he hummed along, laughing as a man in red nosed reindeer started dancing.

Gray smiled, recording the boy's reaction: humming and all. He wouldn't let this moment fade away from his memory.

"Did you see that?" Natsu laughed as the caroling ended.

"Yup." Gray laughed, walking off with Natsu.

"Say, Gray." Natsu ran ahead and onto a bridge-like structure, turning around to a stop; facing Gray. "In all my years of celebrating Christmas, I can guarantee you, that this year's is and always will be my favourite."

Gray stopped in his tracks, watching the giggling boy stand on the bridge. His body look like it had glow due to the lights in the background. His words brought a blush the ravenette's cheeks.

"Hey look, mistletoe." Natsu pointed out the _romantic_ plant hanging by string, over his head.

Gray walked over, and look above their heads with a smirk. "Oh, so it is."

"There was something about mistletoe. Some sort of _thing_ that they symbolize or something... I just can't remember." The pinkette squinted his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard. He had the answer on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't quite grab it.

"Well, I remember." Gray smiled, glancing at that thoughtful face while shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, what is it?" Natsu look at the boy in front of him with a pout.

"This."

And with that Gray leaned in closer, tilting his head slightly, and kissed the younger boy passionately.

Natsu's eyes widen, his cheeks flushed a bright cherry colour, as cold lips rested atop of his own. From behind he could hear people cheering as fireworks went off and Santa's sleighs bell rang.

When Gray pulled away, they stared into each others eyes. Natsu was speechless. He wanted to say something, ask why that just happened, but instead he just stared back into those mysterious dark blue eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Natsu." Gray smiled and pulled out a small nicely wrapped gift.

Natsu looked down while catching his breath and accepted the small gift into his cold hands.

"Open it." Gray insisted.

Natsu carefully took the wrapping paper off and pulled out a small box. He opened the lid and found inside a key chain. Not just any key chain, but a magnetic one. One which connects to the other half which your friend or mate has.

It was silver key chain with two parts to it. One was a single small snow flake that shined when light hit it. The other part was the magnetic piece, in the shape of puzzle piece. There was cursive pink writing across it saying, _"missing piece." with a small heart at the end._

"I saw it back at one of the shops on the island and thought of you. I have the other have here in my pocket, linked to my house keys; see?" Gray pulled out his keys and linked the two key chains together to show Natsu.

Once connected the key chains read in pink and blue, _"You are my missing piece."_

Natsu blushed looking up at the older male with mouth wide open, unable to make words come out.

Gray took the chance to kiss the boy again. Which caused him to make a strange noise, which made him blush even more.

"I'll take that as a, _'thank you.'_ " Gray smirked.

Natsu looked away with a blush. "Thank you. I-I don't know what to say."

"An _'I Love You'_ would be nice." Gray chuckled lightly at Natsu's expression. "Come on, lets get going. We don't want to waste time standing here, you have a flight to catch."

Gray began to walk off the bridge when he heard his name be called as he approached the bottom. Turning around, he was caught by surprise when a certain pinkette jumped into him, causing them both to fall back. He lay there in shock, as Natsu cupped Gray's cheeks in his cold hand and kissed his cold lips.

As they pulled apart, Natsu huffed for air, staring into those dark blue eyes. "I love you, Gray."

Gray smile, staring back into the boy's sparkling gold eyes. He felt so happy that he wanted to cry. "I love you too, Natsu."

Neither wanted the moment to end. It was too beautiful and they knew they would miss the other very soon.

As seconds pasted by, they could hear people coming around the corner, towards where the were. They quickly pulled themselves up, blushing as a few couples and families walked by and over the bridge.

Neither spoke, just stared at the other with a smile indicating their happiness.

Gray grabbed Natsu's hand in his own, pecking the boys lips before walking off to spend the little time they had left before back towards the airport.

Natsu nuzzled up against the older male's arms, wishing this day would never end.

* * *

 _5:17PM, Christmas Eve_

" **All passengers taking flight number xxxx, to Osaka, Japan, please make your way to Gate number D67. Thank you."**

Gray sighed, feeling sorrowful as his pink haired _friend_ walked over to him. "I guess this is it, huh?"

The crestfallen pink haired boy smiled weakly, while staring at the ground. "U-n..."

"Gonna miss you, goofball." Gray smiled sadly, ruffling his pink hair. "Don't forget me, okay?"

"I won't." Natsu smiled.

Gray blinked. He was gonna miss seeing that smile everyday.

"Well..." Natsu scratched his neck awkwardly. "Sayonara, Gray."

Gray simply nodded. "Yeah, bye."

Neither would want to admit it, but both of them felt like grabbing the other and stopping Natsu from leaving. Gray felt like he was gonna cry, and he wasn't the only one; because Natsu did as well.

Gray watched his pinkette's back as he walked away in the crowd; not once turning around to glance back at him. He bit his lip as the crowd finally blocked his vision, indicating to him that Natsu was finally gone.

He rubbed his eyes, vigorously, stopping the tears that threatened from falling; which he failed to do so. He quickly turned on his heel, leaving the airport, and situated himself into his brother's car finally letting the tears flow.

It hurt to cry. Each hiccup echoed, leaving more and more tears to pour out of his saddened, broken soul.

He didn't know how long he cried there for, but he soon heard a plane begin to take flight. His heart dropped and he knew Natsu was finally gone.

He sat there, staring at the ceiling of the car, with tears all run out. A sad smile rolled off his lips as he wiped the tears. "...I'm gonna miss you, sunshine."

Suddenly he heard someone knocking on the window of his car. At first, he believed it was a security guard or cop asking him to move his car. But as he rolled down his window, there was a huge surprise standing out in the cold. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Natsu!?"

"Hey, ice popsicle. You miss me?" The pink haired boy grinned, making Gray's heart melt.

"Bastard, what are you doing here? I thought you left on the plane?" Gray got out of the car and embrace the boy, feeling overjoyed.

Natsu laughed into Gray's warm chest. "Well, I was approaching the gate but stopped, realizing I couldn't leave. So, I called my dad and told him that I decided that I wanted to spend Christmas with the one I love most; you."

"What!?" Gray blushed.

"Yeah. He wasn't very happy, but it doesn't matter. As long as I am with you, nothing else matters to me." Natsu kissed the ravenette lightly on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too, sunshine." Gray smiled, kissing the boy back just as the sounds of sleigh bells were heard.

 **~The End~**


End file.
